396 
noticed, of Capt. John Perry, made during his labours, so ingeni- 
ously adapted to the stopping of Dagenham-breach, it is evident, 
that the Thames intersects a vast bed of bituminous wood (moor- 
log) ; pieces of which must be perpetually separating from the 
banks of the river, and falling to its bottom ; and which, being re- 
peatedly dragged up, have been supposed to have been planted 
there, for the purpose of facilitating the Roman army in fording this 
river. Indeed, wherever similar pieces of wood have been thus 
found, in rivers, &c. near to which history informs us Julius Caesar 
has ever been, the much altered appearance of the wood seems to 
have led to the attributing of it to the labours of that distant period. 
Thus it is related, by Mr. Swinburne, that “ The workmen, in 
clearing the channel of Brindisi, drew up many of the piles, that 
were driven in by Caesar. They are small oaks, stripped of their 
bark, and still as fresh as if they had been cut only a month, though 
buried, above eighteen centuries, seven feet under the sand*.” But 
a later, and equally intelligent observer remarks, that “ During the 
civil wars, Caesar ruined the haven of Brundusium, by casting up 
dams, and sinking vessels. He says nothing of staking it up ; 
neither do I think that there is any good ground for the opinion that 
the oak piles, which were found there, were of Caesar’s drivingf.” 
With respect to the partial petrifaction of one of the timbers be- 
longing to Trajan’s bridge over the Danube, already mentioned, 
there are, I acknowledge, certain circumstances in the relation 
respecting it, which render a more particular account necessary 
before it should be regarded as a true petrifaction. The Abbe 
Revellas relates, that the handles of hammers and of hatchets have 
been found in a petrified state J. Agricola also states, that in an 
* Travels in the Two Sicilies, by H. Swinburne. Esq. vol. ii. p. 301. 
f Travels of Count Stolberg, vol. ii. p. 162. 
:j; Ragionamenti della Filosofia Pastorale, in Memoria sopra la Fisica et Storia Naturale di 
diversi Valentuomini, tom. i. p. 112. 
